Ignition timer and coil



Feb. 4, 1936. M. MALLORY 2,030,012

IGNITION TIMER AND COIL Filed April 16, 1934 INVENTOR. Mia/01v Mum/m BY s 1 ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 4, 1936 UNITED 'STATES' PATENT OFFICE IGNITION. TIMER AND COIL Marion Mallory, Detroit, Mich., assi'gnor to Mallory Research Company, Toledo, Ohio, at corporation of Delaware Application April 16, 1934, Serial No. 720,766

4 Claims.

The object of this invention is to reduce the current consumption of an ignition circuit in an internal combustion engine, to increase the contact life and, above all, to permit a high current flow through the primary circuit of the ignition coil at high speed.

. An additional object is to protect the contacts from carrying an unnecessary amount of current at light loads.

Fig. 1 shows the preferred form of my inven-- tion; the coil being shown diagrammatically.

Fig. 2 shows an alternative method of controlling the current flow by means of the carburetor throttle.

In the figures:

it is the inlet manifold having a carburetor 30 with a throttle 35, which controls the vacuum in ii]. I0 is connected through a pipe 3 with a cylinder 5 i in which a piston I2 reciprocates comtakes place just after the contacts 22, 23 have broken. The contact 22 is grounded at all times.

-Now, it is obvious that by remaking the circuit early, the greatest possible time for saturating the coil is available.

The starting contact 2! engages with the movable contact 20, which is operated by the circuit breaker l9, which is made of moulded bakelite, which engages with the cam 25. This cam also engages with the circuit breaker 24.

Current is furnished by the battery 29 and flows through the primary circuit 11, surrounding a core 21 around which is wound the secondary wires 26, from which a high tension lead 40' connects with the distributor. (Not shown.) The primary circuit !1 is connected through the wire l8 with the spring 34, which engages with the circuit breaker I9. I! also connects through the wire 4| with the spring 32, which controls the movement of the circuit breaker 24.

Operation In the operation of the engine when the throttle 3| is closed, a high vacuum is created in H1, and the piston I2 is drawn down, compressing the spring l3. The ground connection I4 of the circuit breaker I3 is thereby broken. The circuit breaker l9 thereupon becomes inoperative, and the circuit breaker 24 both makes and breaks the contacts for the coil 44. The period of time during which current flows through the coil 44 is thereby cut in half approximately, and the 5 current consumption is thereby reduced. The resistance of the spark plugs when the throttle is closed is reduced because, as the vacuum goes up, the compression in the cylinder goes down,

and, as is well known, the resistance to the current, which jumps the gap in the spark plug, is reduced. When the throttle is wide open, the pressure in the inlet manifold it) rises and the spring i3 is powerful enough to resist any depression which occurs in the inlet manifold i0 15 when the throttle is wide open. The result is that the circuit breaker i9 is operative at all times, in which case the current flows the maximum period of time. The circuit breaker 89 makes the contact, and the circuit breaker 24 breaks the con- 20 tact. It is noted that with this construction, the timing of the engine is not changed.

In Fig. 2, mechanical means are shown as a substitute for the vacuum means of Fig. 1. A throttle lever 35 controls the throttle valve 3|, 26 carries a movable contact 43, which is adapted to slide over a track 44 of insulating material on a rail 38. This rail 38 carries the ground connection 31 of the primary wire l5. See Fig. 1. When the throttle 3| is opened wide, the contact 43 en- 30 gages the connection 31 and is grounded, so that the circuit breaker I9 becomes operative. A ground connection 42 is shown for the carburetr 30.

What I claim is:-

1. An ignition system for an internal combustion engine, having a throttle controlled inlet, comprising an ignition coil, a source of electricity connected therewith, an engine driven rotating cam, a pair of circuit breakers engaging there- 40 with and timed one ahead of the other, a pair of contacts connected with each circuit breaker and in parallel with said coil, the circuit breaker which is the last to open having one contact permanently grounded, the other circuit breaker having one contact grounded only when the throttle is opened, so as to increase the time the current is flowing through said coil when the throttle is opened, the timing of the spark being unchanged by the grounding of saidcontact.

2. An ignition system for an internal combustion engine, having a throttle controlled inlet, comprising an ignition coil with a magnetic core, primary and secondary convolutions of wire surrounding said core, a source of low tension elec- 55 tricity connected to one end of said primary convolution, a pair of circuit breakers connected in parallel with the other end, one of the circuit breakers located so that when closed it will close the circuit, the other located so that it will break the circuit, an engine driven cam operating both of the circuit breakers, means controlled by the closing of said throttle to render the first circuit breaker inoperative whereby the time the current flows is reduced at low engine loads without altering the timing of the spark.

3. An ignition system for an internal combustion engine, having a throttle controlled inlet, comprising an ignition coil, a source 01 electricity connected therewith, an engine driven rotating cam, a pair of circuit breakers engaging therewith and timed one ahead of the other, a pair of contacts connected with each circuit breaker and in parallel with said coil, the circuit 20 breaker which is last to open having one contact permanently grounded, inlet vacuum responsive means for grounding one of the contacts of the other circuit breaker for the purpose described.

4. An ignition system for an internal combustion engine, having a throttle controlled inlet, comprising an ignition coil with a magnetic core, primary and secondary convolutions of wire surrounding said core, a source of low tension electricity connected to one end of said primary convolutions, a pair of circuit breakers connected in parallel with the other end, one of the circuit breakers located so that when closed it will close the circuit, theother located so that it will break the circuit, an engine driven cam operating both of the circuit breakers, inlet vacuum responsive means for rendering the first circuit breaker inoperative, when the throttle is closed, for the purpose described.

MARION MAILORY. 

